The Criminal's Guide to Region-Hopping - Chapter 1
by ClockworkArceus
Summary: When the leaders and admins of Team Magma and Aqua are declared public enemies number one, both teams get the same idea - flee as far away from Hoenn and each other as possible, for as long as possible. The second half of the plan, to be generous, goes completely out the window. Now the question is: can they work together? And do they even know where they're going?...
1. Public Enemies Numbers One-to-Six

There weren't many things you could say with confidence, but…

The Rosen brothers, in charge of Rosen's Rental Vans, could truly say they'd had the second weirdest working day of their career. No exaggeration needed.

23 customers came in on Tuesday, 34 came on Wednesday, 43 Thursday, 65 Friday, one hundred on Saturday - Jeff Rosen had gotten so tired of repeating the same small talk like a Chatot - "So, where are you headed?" "Ohhh, sounds fun!" "Early holiday?"

They never rented much. Just the van. They just took the bare essentials and sometimes never came back with them. The brothers were only just breaking even, even if the entire lobby had been packed wall-to-wall a few days ago with grumbling travellers, wailing babies and growling Pokemon of all shapes and sizes.

And he knew full well no-one actually took his vans on a holiday, because they always said the exact. Same. Thing. Every. Single. Time.

"It's the recent weather...thing here, made me realise how crap this region is…"  
"Oh, it's the _sun!_ I can't stand it now."  
"My husband hates the rain and I get _reaaaally_ easily sunburned…"  
"I'm just worried it's gonna happen again…"

Anyone would up and leave the region if they'd had to live through a whole _week_ of burning sunlight and heavy rain, taking their turn at ruining gardens, weather forecasts and families.

The two local gangs, Team Aqua and Magma full of...probably teenagers, vandals, and adults with nothing else to do, one headed by a fish-lover pirate, and an arrogant professor wannabe heading the other, had done...that. Not painted their mark on the side of Mauville Mall, held another rally.

No, they'd almost brought about the end of days.

It was almost amusing to watch them swear to wake up Groudon because of Kyogre, and wake up Kyogre because of Groudon - like kids playing shotgun infinity infinity against shotgun infinity.  
Only not many people expected them to actually _do it._  
One thing led to another. Another thing got out of control, quickly.

The days were split between scorching sun and rolling storms. Patchworks of weather, almost like some kind of fight. People overlooked it as more of Hoenn's mad weather patterns - until it kept going. It didn't pass over, _it didn't fix itself._

The world realised Maxie and Archie meant business.  
So did Maxie and Archie, in fact - but it wasn't like _they_ could fix what they'd done. _  
_  
The days were patchworks of national emergencies, massive emigration, full hospitals, people charging into the Rosen's Rental Vans for the sake of a drink, then hiding there for the whole night when the floodwaters started to rise again. The Rosen brothers watched as the leaders of Aqua and Magma tried as hard as they could to keep their pathos, stay logical and calm, on live television.

The highlight of their nights was when someone threw a beer bottle at Maxie. He didn't come out from under the lectern for about a minute.

And then, two ten-year-old children captured the huge beasts seen in Sootopolis.  
As though it never happened, the weather... _reset._

Which meant that two ten-year-old children ended up on public television, after a week of absolute chaos, getting oversized medals hung around their necks while police made vague statements about what would happen to those responsible.  
It was cute, yes. Everyone agreed - they were the national darlings.

But the 'Week of Wild Weather', as everyone from Kanto to Sinnoh called it, was the national embarrassment of the century.

 _The other Rosen brother lay down in his office chair for the night, confident that surely, no-one would come in when there were stars in the sky and the lights inside were dim. Munching on a packet of chips, he squinted at the glare of his computer._

It felt kind of satisfying to Jeff, even though all he'd lost were hours of sleep, when the police released their report on what they would do about the culprits. The members, the grunts of Team Magma and Aqua would only get convicted if they committed any actual crimes like theft or assault.

But, for the ringleaders...

 _Scrolling slowly down his social media feed, he saw another website muscling in on the newest story._

" _Calls for arrest of Team Aqua and Magma leaders Archie Smith and Maximillian Wentforth, as well as their four admins, Tabitha, 'Shelly' Kelly, and Matthew, for acts of ecological terrorism, robbery, and other charges. The new Public Enemies Number One?..."_

\- - -

That evening, the final two customers that Mitchell and Jeff would see arrived.

Pulling into the drive of Rosen's Rental Vans in a crowded airport shuttle, three people wrapped in long, flowing outfits stepped out into the empty parking lot. They eyed up the advertisement outside, the bright grins on the posters up above. Everything seemed ideal. Even if it wasn't, this was the closest rental place they could find.  
"Come on, Courtney - Tabitha. We'll be in, and out." the figure in the huge, black, hooded cape said, trying to sound...not ominous.  
"You got the cash, sir?"  
"Yes, Tabby - " Maxie replied, holding up a briefcase stuffed to the seams with hundred-dollar notes, "Also, you...might want to break that habit of calling me 'sir.' Call me…'buddy' or something else like that. It'll look suspicious otherwise."

Tabitha chose not to say anything about the bills sticking out of the case.

\- - -

Pulling into the _other_ drive of Rosen's Rental Vans on three mountain bikes tied to a small trailer, three people dressed up to the nines in hoodies and shorts came to a stop in the _nearly_ empty parking lot. Checking again that the small hill of fuel cans hadn't shed some cargo all over the roads, like a trail leading directly here, they slowly, deliberately, casually strolled into the second entrance.

"Matt? Shelly? You good?..." the figure in the hoodie, airplane pants and sleep mask over his scar asked, trying to hide his Sevii accent, "It, ah...might be a bit hard to act casual after biking all this way. Try your best."  
"I could do that for a week!" the man behind him declared, "I could probably go from one side of Hoenn to the other like this,"  
"Bro, don't make me regret doing this again…" Archie chuckled, looking cautiously back at the tempting-looking mountain bikes, "You think I thought this through well enough?"  
"Yeah, yeah! Totally!"

\- - -

" _Calls have been made for anyone that sees them to call the police immed - "  
_ And then the door slammed. _  
_Mitchell Rosen sat up in his seat, snapping to attention into his normal, back-straight, wide-smile, attempt-at-casual position, watching the two parties as they came in. Quickly, he made a motion to his brother to go and handle them as he called over the party on the right in the gothic vampire outfits.  
"Hello, Rosen's Rental Vans, how can I help you?" he and his brother repeated out of sync, doing the signature head tilt.

"I would like...one van, and I'll rent it for...three weeks," the man dressed in the black cape requested, planting his hands on the counter firmly.  
"Ooooo-kay. Let me get that up for you…Driver's license, please."  
Maxie silently handed over a fake one. The picture was faked - just another man with similar hair colour and facial structure.  
Again, and again when Mitch turned away, he re-adjusted the cape.

\- - -

"Oh, ah...just the van, thanks," the man in the hoodie and sleep mask asked, "For...three weeks."  
"Cool. Let me get that sorted. Just the van?"  
"Just the van, yeah…"  
"Driver's license, please."  
"Here," Archie said, handing him another fake one. The picture was real, at least - him with a decent bunch of makeup on his scar, the beard was less...Kyogre-ey.  
He hoped no-one here knew him from college.

Around then Jeff gave the first knowing look to his brother, while Mitchell pointed frantically at his lit-up computer screen.

"Just gotten off the plane, huh?"  
"...Yeah, actually!" Archie replied, cautiously, "We just flew here from...Unova. Honestly, those really long flights just take it out of you completely -"  
"Oh, I knooow," Jeff sighed, typing away.  
"Thought I might try and get some sleep in the back seat," Archie continued, motioning towards the sleep mask, "hopefully get on Hoenn time."  
"I thought you were driving?"

"No, my…" Archie began, turning back to Matt, "...my bro just couldn't get a hotel room with 3 beds." He yawned to try and prove he was sleep-deprived.  
"Ah."

\- - -

"Names?" Mitchell asked the cloaked figures in front of him, expecting some variation on Gandalf.

"Richard L. ...Grant." started the man in the cloak.

"Uh, Katie Grant," mumbled the girl with the purple hair behind him, lightly.

"Wait, why - " started the other man behind him, "Oh. Yeah. Michael Doe."

—

"Names, please?" Jeff asked the group in front of him.

"Oh! Yeah," the leader began, "I'm Cam, she's Marie, he's Bartholemew."

"What?" asked the big, burly man at the back, as flatly as possible.

"Preferred name, Mew."

—

"So...if you don't mind me asking," Mitchell asked, tapping slowly on his computer screen, "What's with the...uh, _cool capes?_ "  
Maxie paused for a moment, checking if the thrown-together fabric pile looked convincing  
"Oh, it's traditio - "  
"We're larpi - "  
"We're very nervous about getting sunburned," Maxie explained, somehow shutting up Tabitha and Courtney with two confused looks, "And it's...traditional in my family, but they - my friends - they do it for a larp - sorry. Lark."  
"Aaah," Mitchell sighed, "Don't feel self-conscious."  
"Oh, I wasn't."  
"There was a guy coming in the other day," Mitchell explained, leaning back in his chair - "Looked exactly like you guys do, but the cape was white..."

\- - -

"Alright, we've got you one van for three weeks," Jeff confirmed, fishing out a pair of keys and taking out some brochures, "For three people?"  
"Yep. Three people," Archie confirmed, grinning now from ear to ear. "Sounds great - hey, thanks for getting us this at, like...9 in the evening, I know you just wanna go back home…"  
"It's my pleasure."

\- - -

"There is one problem, though…" both Jeff and Mitchell told Maxie and Archie in perfect unison -

"There's only one van, and it didn't come back, uh...completely refueled, so you might have to...come back tomorrow…" Jeff explained, twirling his pen in his hand.

"What?" Maxie gasped, "Well, I suppose we can take it then - can I have the keys? I'm sure it's alright if someone returns theirs tomorrow - "

"Does that mean...you have to keep it?" Archie questioned, "Is it _your_ van? ...No, I'm kidding. What, is something wrong with it?"

"The guy over there also wants it."  
Calmly, Mitchell pointed over at the crowd of travellers a few feet away.

The party in the huge black capes turned to see a group of tired, bundled up tourists, raising their eyebrows and trying not to stare at each other's faces.  
For a few seconds, Archie tried to be a frequent flyer who'd just sat in an economy seat, not sleeping, not eating, for twenty hours. Maybe, if he squinted, whatever bags under his eyes would get a little bigger.

Maxie, standing nonchalantly a few feet away, watched Archie's eyes shoot open.  
Silently, he mouthed: _holy crap._

Casually, this not-so-mysterious figure flicked the lock of red hair back into his hood.  
In and out, he reminded himself, in and out.

He had a plan, he had _ideas_ now.

"I'll take the trailer, _and_ the insurance," whispered Maxie, smirking and handing over some extra money from the briefcase. A little bit fluttered onto the floor behind the counter.  
"Oh," Shelly groaned quietly, "Great."

Maxie simply let Mitchell pick it up, letting him feel it in his hand for a few seconds before he quietly slipped it into his pocket.  
It was real, all right - he'd recognise a fake note better now than ever.

"Keep it."  
"Oh, it's fine - we don't really _do_ tips in Hoenn…"  
"Well - I do."

"Alright, I'LL take the trailer, the insurance, _and_ the fluffy car seats!" Matt offered bombastically, slamming his credit card on the counter, "Why not?"  
"That'd be $420 in total," Jeff confirmed, watching his brother mime frantically to him at the other desk.

"I suppose I'd better take the insurance, the fluffy car seats - " Tabitha offered, straining to see the list of addons.

"Can I have a map as well?" Shelly offered, handing over twenty dollars and giving Tabitha a look of mild annoyance.  
"Actually, we just use a GPS -"  
"A GPS, too!" both admins ordered.  
"And the air freshener...how cheap is...is that?...!"

"And the train tickets!"

"And more insurance!"

"They have a bus pass as well." Courtney noticed, tall enough to see and loud enough to hear. Matt frantically, before she even finished her sentence, snatched the brochure off the table -

"The bus pass!" he and Tabitha cried, only getting a small head shake from the brothers.

"Hah," Courtney remarked flatly, "There aren't any. Maxie just ordered the twenty-dollar magazine while you were distracted!"

"We'll order the - "

"AUGH! MY _FOOT!"_

A loud crash in the background as Maxie dropped the huge sun-roof on display.

A small flutter of paper, as the distinctly full magazine stand hit the ground too.

"We'll order the, uh, dispatchable sunroof," Tabitha finished, watching Maxie throw his entire briefcase to Tabitha, hopping around on one foot. Courtney, completely silent, grabbed the entire stand of magazines.

"The sunroof - "

Jeff, groaning loudly, shoved a hand in Shelly's face before she could finish.

"Alright! Fine! The caped...wizard guys get the van. You other guys get a really, really big discount tomorrow."

Kicking the briefcase under the desk, Mitchell practically threw the keys to the van at Maxie. "Here. Just go."  
He tried waving them out, but the caped man still stood there. For...the first time, now that he thought about it, they smirked.

"I will," Maxie replied, "and thank-you _very_ much for your service." The group quickly made a beeline for the door, not turning to look at the other little crowd. The leading man in the sleep-mask and hoodie shot him a confused stare.

In and out, Maxie reminded himself. Looking into the glaring moon, he tossed the key in his hands with a satisfying jingle.

"No need," he whispered, watching Courtney jabbing at the 'exit door' button.

"Now, Tabitha, did you end up ordering the sun-roof or no - "

"Hey, you."

A hand on his back.

A swivel back around.

The cape fell apart, the single button popping off, under the touch of someone _slightly_ more strong than a gust of wind, and fell onto the floor.

And whoever just did that stared at his same old waistcoat-and-stockings setup, the completely unchanged zigzag haircut and chuckling as always.

"I thought you said you were gonna stay in Hoenn to fix your _own_ mess," Archie questioned the man he'd just caught, "And more importantly... _not screw me over again?"_

"I…"

"Would it have hurt you to go somewhere else or something when you saw me?" he continued in a hushed, quiet voice, backing him away from the door, "It's not like it matters to 'y whether I get... _put away_ or not, and most of these places 'round here don't shut 'till ten…"

"Please, break it up..." Mitchell called loudly, refusing to get more involved.

His brother hastily looked up what the leader of Team Magma looked like, but he just found far shots of them alongside the leader of Team Aqua - mostly in some kind of screaming match or older, happier, less accurate ones.

The details were faint, but he noticed mostly the bright red…  
Hair. Shaped exactly like a zigzag.

"Oh, my god."

"You see what I'm saying?" Archie finished, "... _Maxie_?"

"First of all, I think this counts as screwing _each other_ over, _Archie_."

And with that, Maxie flicked the sleep mask and hoodie off of Archie's head.

"Oh, you _bastard_."

There it was. The X-shaped scar on his forehead. Cringing as both the owners gasped, he slapped a hand over his forehead, fumbling to get the hoodie back over his hair.  
Click, click, the security cameras switched on.

"Aren't you the guy in charge of Team Aqua?"  
"Uhhh…" Archie began, "No?"  
He grabbed Shelly and Matt by the scruffs of their necks - and left the store. Dashing across the tarmac, he didn't turn to look. Like that - he was gone.

"You're kidding me," Mitch groaned.  
"THEY'LL BE BACK! GET UNDER THE DESK!"

He forced the doors shut as he watched the owners duck behind the counter, quietly ordering his friends to get out while he frantically tried to shove the hoodie back over his hair again. The sleep mask flew off hit the tarmac silently, but there wasn't any point in picking it back up.

"Run, Matt, get on the bike! We'll have to try pedalling!"  
How fast could he go? How long could he go?  
"Shelly, get the fuel trailer! We'll leave it near the gas station!"  
"Uh - "  
"We'll leave it!"

Meanwhile, Maxie had wrapped what was left of the cloak around his head and shoulders, shuffling around the side of the building, holding the keys close to his chest and running over any gap wide enough for it to fall down.  
"There's the van! Right there, see?"

Courtney broke cover, dashing to the side of the huge black peoplemover. Everyone turned to hear the thunk, thunk, ka-thunk of her trying to get the door open - no use. The keys lightly jingled as Maxie tossed them to Tabitha, who tossed them to Courtney, who herded the three inside the car - practically shoving them into their respective seats.

The car doors slammed in sync.

Sitting at the driver's seat, Maxie rolled down the window to look at the unluckier ones.

He had faith in Archie that he'd be able to bicycle all the way to the next rental place before the police came, but even so…  
"Well, Archie, I don't suppose I'll be seeing you again," Maxie remarked calmly as Archie fixed his chains, "Goodbye, thank-you for all the 'good' times, and...stuff like that…"  
Archie turned around with his foot on the pedal and gave him a look he couldn't quite make out. He kept that look on while Maxie rolled up the window back up - he gave up halfway through and started to cycle away. The gravel wasn't letting him speed up, and he kept almost falling down.

This bike was...slower than he'd been promised.

What was that again about it being able to out...bike a car?  
"Maxie," Tabitha said, poking the driver as he turned the key and revved the engine, "Maxie, you might wanna look at this…"  
The three passengers all leaned over the dashboard.  
A small, nervous squeak came from the driver's seat.

And the window rolled straight back down.

"What kind of _prick_ returns a van with low fuel?" Tabitha snapped, gesturing wildly at the meter so close to 'empty' - "Are you - are you _seeing_ this right?"

Archie...backpedalled a bit.

"That's enough to take us approximately…" Courtney mumbled, counting on her fingers, "...uh, not very many distance, yeah..."

Shelly, on foot, tugged again and again on Archie's arm, until she saw the little lightbulb form in his eyes - "Alright, what idea'd you get this time?"

"Never mind that!" Maxie blurted out, "We're going - "  
The van lurched forward out the driveway, crushing a recycling bin, engine coughing with a bang - and rolled to a stop in the middle, leaving the mangled plastic to blow away.  
The driver's foot was off the accelerator, and shaking too much to go back on.

"Do you...need something by any chance?" Archie asked, "I heard you guys talking about how you have no fuel left…"  
Shelly and Matt, walked over to the small trailer full of fuel, pointing it out silently. About a hundred, piled in a mountain and held there with some line of rope. Kind of a fire hazard, but still, enough to last Archie and his gang for weeks without stopping at a gas station.

That is, it... _would_ have.

"We thought this through and thought we'd bring some...backup," he continued, raising an eyebrow at Maxie, "but since we got... _out-bidded_ by you guys - "  
"Yes! Yes, I know we did..." Maxie snapped, getting out of the van and marching up to the man giving him a condescending look, "What's…" he continued, slowly starting to realise why they'd bothered, "...what's the point you're making here?"

"I know - I know we're not meant to be messing with each other now - " Archie clarified, "But I want to make a deal with you. We give you our fuel…"  
"A...And?" Maxie interrupted, trying to make himself look taller.  
"And you take _us_ in the van."

"What?" Maxie stated, chuckling a little.  
"You can fit us in there - that thing has six or so seats, eight if you count the middle ones…"  
"They don't count."  
"We'd still be able to fit, then. So you take us in, you get to actually _move_ -"  
"And then we drop you at the nearest rental place," Maxie clarified, "And _then_ we drive off in seperate directions."  
"So it's a yes?" Archie finished, tempting him with one fuel can.  
"Wait, I haven't decided _yet!_ " the other man snapped, turning back to the van for a team talk, "I wouldn't just go and...give you half of our van after a few seconds of thinking…"

Tabitha and Courtney leaned out the front window, glancing back and forth at the other admins - still showing off the pile of fuel, mind you - and not having anything to say.  
"Do you think it's some kind of trick?" Tabitha wondered aloud, "Maybe it's diesel and they want us to blow up the...never mind…"  
Before Courtney's ears pricked up, and she tapped Maxie on the shoulder - "I don't think - " she whispered, waiting for the sounds of sirens in the distance becoming barely audible before shutting off again - "I don't think we _have_ more than...a few seconds…"

All six heard the chorus of feet in the building - Jeff and Mitchell had come out, waiting eagerly for the sirens to start again.

And a nearby screeching of tyres on tarmac.  
"DON'T YOU MOVE!" Mitchell yelled from far off, "I SEE YOU GUYS OUT THERE!"

It took a few seconds for Maxie to shoot back against the van, trying to make himself as invisible as possible. Frantically, he fumbled to get the cap on the fuel tank open, taking a long five seconds before gesturing for Archie to put the fuel in.

"Alright!...Fine, but just to be clear, this isn't going to be a long-term thing, you understand?"

He put his hand out, keeping it still.  
...And watched as Archie calmly walked straight past him and put the fuel in the tank himself.

"Right! We're good to go," he exclaimed after he was done, throwing the empty can in a nearby bin, "Matt! Shelly! Hook up the trailer and get the dogs somewhere nice to sit!"

Swiftly, Matt shunted the trailer onto the back of the van, Shelly tossed their suitcases into the boot and Archie hung the bikes on the back - Maxie felt every bump and clatter as he sat, unmoving in the driver's seat. He opened up the maps for reading material, but they weren't any good. As maps or as distraction.  
The doors all opened at once and Matt practically tossed himself into the back row seats, followed by Shelly with her backpack. Their Poochyenas -

Well, Maxie didn't want to know where they ended up. He flicked the mirror where he couldn't see it, trying to focus on not losing his cool -  
Was that a tail on his elbow or just him imagining?  
And finally, Archie pulled open the car door on the other side of the driver's seat, tossing his small bag under the dashboard and fastening the seat belt - "Are you gonna be fine with me sitting here, or are you gonna get snarky once we start moving?" he asked, glancing at his friends in the back seat.  
There was definitely a spot for him.  
"Yes. I'm fine," Maxie groaned, "Fine, fine."

Turning the wheel and lightly pressing accelerate, he was surprised to find it actually worked this time - the car was silent, Archie hadn't duped him or anything - and the van was pulling out onto the open road. What was the speed limit here? Fifty miles an hour? Eighty? One hundred?

"Well, it's not like you...can go and pour the fuel out now, can you?" he mumbled under his breath, before hitting the gas and shooting onto his personal highway at the speed of an annoyed Zangoose, shoving everyone into their seats. Gravel scattered everywhere, and so did the birds.  
"Wait - wh - _SLOW DOWN!_ "  
Dust trailed behind them, and there was a straight path ahead.  
"Dude," Shelly began, "We're fine - "  
" _MAXIE, SERIOUSLY_ \- " Archie snapped, trying to nudge Maxie's foot off the accelerator, but it wasn't any use, "Is this you trying to get us out of here ASAP?!"  
"You think so?"  
"It'll get you _into the next life, that's what it is!"_ he hissed, getting thrown against the other side of the car. As Maxie pushed up the speed again, the van shot around the corner and continued on.  
"Did you forget we're on the run for a second there?" he asked cheekily, "And you always talk about _me_ not being... " - he did a screeching turn onto another small road - "...adaptable."

"Don't worry, bro!" Matt offered, barely able to speak because of the car jumping on the gravel road, "If we crash, I'll pull ya out of the wreck!"  
" _NOT THE TIME, BRO!"_

The road signs ahead were all for one place: the Pelipper Ferry.  
One hundred, hundred and fifty or so kilometres left, and then the first leg was over.  
Nearly there, Maxie noted.  
If we just go a little bit faster, then...

\- - -

They were going to be _safe.  
_  
One car drew up to the entrance of Rosen's Rental Vans. The two brothers watched it nervously, expecting to tell yet another customer that they were all out.  
But the person that stepped out wasn't normal.  
And the machine, the contraption on top looked familiar.

It was only when the owner of the vehicle flicked a small switch inside, and the whole parking lot started flashing red and blue, and red and blue, and red and blue again, that Jeff and Mitch realised they were going to be okay.

It was over. No team Magma and Aqua gang was going to come as revenge...or anything. _  
_  
The policeman walked inside, unthreatening and calm. Making no sudden movements, he rang the bell at the desk and watched as the two owners came out from under their burrow of desk chairs and cardboard boxes.  
"Are you Jeffrey and Mitchell Rosen?" he asked, knowing full well this question was pointless. His notepad was already out.  
"Yes! Yes! We are - you're here to ask us about Archie and Maxie, aren't you?"  
"We've got security footage, transactions, everything - "

"One question at a time," the policeman ordered, escorting the brothers outside and to a police car, "I'm afraid you'll have to answer them at the police station."  
"That's fine!"  
"Yeah, that's - that's okay!"  
One of the officers cried out in laughter, rippling through the whole building, echoing through the night. Another ran out the door holding a USB stick with the security footage on it, still trying to keep a straight face after what he saw on the screens.  
"Christ," Mitchell remarked, "I hope they're not laughing at our nice shelter."

More and more police cars turned up at the scene, and they left as quickly as they came. Locals where showing up, the talk was spreading like wildfire -  
Quicker than he'd expected -

"Well - you're safe now," the police officer confirmed as the brothers were shut in the car, and the door clicked closed, "Thank-you for cooperating with us."

They heard nothing but muffled, discordant cheering.


	2. Some Kind of Trust

The clock in the Hoenn Tourist's Centre had just struck eleven.

Most, if not all of the people in Hoenn had already watched the evening news and gone to bed a while ago. Bit by bit, town by town, the lights were going out, receding all the way east to Lilycove City.

(They say Lilycove City never sleeps, and _hasn't_ slept since the airplane was invented.)

The roads leading to it were dotted with tourists that weren't able to get a better time to fly in, and employees that were...lucky...enough to _just_ get the _late_ -evening shift. The owners of the scattered cars all drove cautiously, alert.

All were mainly looking forward to getting back home. Back home, they'd be able to sleep, and even if they likely couldn't, they would be safe. They all knew the dangers of falling asleep at the wheel. They'd all seen the advertisements, plastered on billboards spaced regularly along the motorway - " _If you want to hit the pillow, don't hit the road."_

 _Drive consciously, drive competently.  
Stay safe._

It sounded like good advice. _  
_  
...And _then_ there was the huge black people-mover shooting down the highway at 150% of the speed limit.

"See? We're _absolutely_ fine." the driver muttered. Quickly he swerved the van across 3 lanes, shakily settling on the second one. Pressed into the back of his seat, Maxie focused. And focused a little more, but the van wouldn't stay straight. Someone honked - he didn't care.  
"Uh...buddy?" Tabitha began, "Won't this use up the fuel faster?"  
"Oh, of course it won't - _Archie!_ "

"What?" came a muffled voice from outside the car. The howling wind brushed hair into Maxie's face, which he tried to ignore.  
"Don't stick your head out of the window," Maxie ordered, yanking Archie back into his seat - "...You look like a dog. A - A very conspicuous dog."  
Maxie wound the window down.  
And Archie wound it back up.

"I'm keeping an eye out for people!" Archie explained, still keeping his eyes fixed on the road behind him - "People that are...probably chasin' us…"  
"Who?"  
"The Rosens, the police…"  
"Archie, there's cameras on the side of the road here," Maxie lectured, tightening his grip on the steering wheel, "I've looked at pictures they've taken of drivers, and they'd have a very nice view of your face."

"What - speeding cameras? Well, we wouldn't have to worry about those if _-_ "  
"And there's also other drivers who've seen us every night on TV," Maxie continued regardless as someone slower drove past them, giving the loud van a dirty look and then a surprised one, "Like that one - "  
" _If we weren't speeding_ _ **!**_ " Archie growled.  
"...Jeez," he sighed as he continued, "Also, I'm...fairly sure no-one's gonna recognise me," he finished, trailing off when he saw Shelly mouth 'what?' He still leant out anyway, keeping his eyes on the rear-view mirror, and not on the now very done-with-everything driver.

"Nothing?..." Archie commented.  
Nothing.

A few minutes passed with complete silence in the car, as tiny towns whizzed through the rear-view mirror. The admins in the back ducked below the window just for safety's sake, and Tabitha tried to wrangle a large map. One sign flying close by Archie almost startled him, but he was too busy looking past, far past the road and fence now to care.

Maxie slowed down a little more after a large truck shot past.  
Still, though, he said nothing.

If he could come back here again, Archie considered, he would have settled down in a seaside village on Hoenn's northern coast. That'd be nice.  
It'd be _nice_ if it were like one of those isolated villages he'd seen on TV, where the outside world literally never got addressed, and all that happened was in a few-kilometre range of the main character. Funny how many of those there -

"Guys?" Tabitha called, tapping Maxie and Archie on the shoulder.  
" _What?"_  
"You missed the exit," he explained, pointing a few hundred metres back. Maxie suddenly jerked upright - and the car came to a screeching halt on the highway's side. They glided on the gravel like ice, as Archie buried his face in his hands.

"God _damnit,"_ both of the front seat-ers snapped.

\- - -

One-thirty in the morning.

They were one hour late.

No-one was awake.  
No-one watched the van drive in. Most of the neon lights were out, the parties were off the streets, and the people? Gone. Almost every single shop in Lilycove, the city that _clearly_ was sleeping, was shut for the night.  
What looked like a black shadow crawled down the streets, turning down narrower and narrower streets like a rabbit down a hole.  
A little off in the distance, a storeowner groaned.

"Do we know where -"  
"I know where we're going."  
"Right. Okay."  
"...Tabitha? Anything?"  
"Hey, try that place over there."  
"Is it open?" Matt leant over Tabitha to get a closer look.  
"Looks open."  
"It'd _better_ be open, there's a little 24/7 sign out front."  
"Don't those places get _really_ mad if you turn up at one-thirty?" Matt continued, remembering the 3-am 'restaurant' trips he'd take with Tabby occasionally.

As the car grated on the little gravel road, Tabitha kicked the door open and let Matt get out. They'd pulled up to a little store by the shore, in the cluster of tourism centres and other, more expensive and probably better rental chains. There weren't even any lights to show the name of the place they'd chosen - but the twenty or so cars in the parking lot looked like a good sign.  
It was late, it wasn't perfect, but it would do.

"Well - " Archie declared, stepping out of the van and hauling his backpack too, "Is this the place?"  
"I hope so," Maxie replied, "If not, I doubt you'll have to walk far to find another one."  
"...Yeah…'guess not," said Archie, turning his back.  
Quietly, he pushed the door open. The owners didn't notice the new arrivals.

The two Poochyenas leapt out, eagerly following their owners inside. Tabitha, now alone in the back seat, felt a little betrayed.  
"I suppose... " Maxie began -

"Hm?"

"I suppose this is the last time we're going to _see_ each other," Maxie explained, holding out a hand, "I assume you're going to go somewhere different than I am?"  
"I guess...I guess _so -"_ Archie replied, before his hand got pulled in for a very stiff handshake in front of the still open door. (Less of a handshake, actually, and more of a hand...pull up and down once.) Matt took a quick look around, to see two women staring at their new customers.

"Bye, then? And, uh...thanks for the ride."

"Yes," Maxie finished, quickly - "...goodbye." He let go of Archie's hand, and backed off.  
At first, he simply stood rigidly in front of the van. Then, as he realised Archie wasn't going to get in until he drove off, he did...that.

The front door of the van slammed loudly behind him - before Maxie immediately hit the gas as soon as Archie took a step, and disappearing around a corner.

Archie stood silently for a few seconds, hovering there.

"See anything?..." Matt asked, quietly.

He craned down the street, but nothing appeared.

"Bro."

Archie sighed, quite deeply.  
"He's...not coming back with our fuel, is he?"

\- - -

A few minutes later, Archie was leaning on the desk of the new rental car center, handing over his credit card and driver's license. It looked relatively new, which was good, he'd never seen the owner around these parts, same the other way around...The hoodie-and-sleep mask disguise still worked great, though this time he carried a pillow for effect. And yawned.

"And can I ask...what's this place called, just so I can, um...return it at one of your other locations?" Archie inquired, keeping the attendant talking as they inspected his credit card.  
"We...only have this one," she replied, "Sorry."  
"Ah. Ok. Cool."

"But, uh...you could return it at my brother's chain," she suggested, shoving a small flier in the pile of ones she'd already given to Archie, "We're kind of working together - if you return something there, he'll return it here, and, uh...vice versa..."

"Oh, really? What's it called?" Archie asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Rosen's Rental Vans."

"Ohhhh."  
Archie's mouth went dry.  
 _Didn't the lady in front of you look familiar now?  
_ "Hm?"

"We just, uh...went there!" Shelly explained as Archie took a couple of steps backwards, "They ran out, so...lucky you, I guess?"

"Yeah," the owner continued, checking her phone as she tapped one button a second on her computer. She reached for the keys, but just got her empty cup of coffee.  
Her phone buzzed with a notification - _["bro! sent you a photo."]_

She clicked it. Looked up at Archie.  
Back down at the portrait her phone again.  
Up again.  
Back down again, at the credit card, to check she wasn't seeing things.  
And back up with a look of recognition.

"Holy _crap,_ " she whispered under her breath, "It's _you._ "  
"What is it, sis? Is it your ex again?"  
"No - it's...uh..."

\- - -

A few minutes away, at the Cove Lily Motel, the other group of travellers was standing around calmly to the tune of lobby music. Courtney stole five mints out of the bowl on the counter, while Maxie retrieved his wallet.  
"Courtney - that's unprofessional. Put them back."  
Slowly, she returned two.

"I'll have one room for one night," Maxie requested to the lady sitting behind the counter, "Do you have a two-bedroom one?..."  
"We do. Do you want the one with the balcony, or the one just across from it?"  
"The balcony!" Courtney suggested, before Maxie gave his nod of approval.

\- - -

The other Rosen sister shoved the Aquas out the door, slammed it, and immediately went to call the police.

\- - -

Maxie gave the name they'd agreed upon. Same as last time, for all they knew he was Richard Grant again. Already, he was brainstorming new ones - but these would do. They would suspect something if he stuttered. Or told them he was John Doe.  
"Right, you've got room number 214," the attendant continued, handing him a key, "Have a nice night!"  
"Thankyou. Thank-you very much - " They were already hurrying upstairs, feet thumping on the floorboards, but Tabitha picked up something else.

Someone yelling about something down the road.  
And it sounded kind of familiar.

\- - -

"The motel!" Shelly suggested, but Archie was already running too far ahead. Not caring about how wide, how open the road was getting, he made a beeline for the nearest neon sign.

"I'm sorry - I'm such a dumbass, I should've given a fake name - " he panted, "I'm sorry - "  
"Archie, seriously - "

He waited and waited for the red-and-blue lights to show behind him.  
It was only a matter of time.  
Only a matter of time.

\- - -

The room they had was right at the end of the corridor, but, then again, the hotel was tiny. Quietly so as not to wake up anyone else, Courtney opened up the door to their room. Clearly, they'd gotten them the best suite in the whole place. A massive balcony, a massive window, and the beds…

"Hey, Maxie, you might wanna check out the bed situation," she told him, dumping her sleeping bag in the corner and resting her head.  
"Oh dear…"  
"What?" Tabitha asked, dragging the suitcases up the flight of stairs, hurrying as he heard a group of people stampede into the lobby.

"Well, this _is_ the two bedroom one like I asked, but they didn't even change the sheets, look," Maxie complained, holding up a dusty red duvet, "Awful."  
"Ahh, never mind them," Tabitha replied, chucking them all off his bed right onto Courtney's face, and taking a leap onto the empty mattress. Courtney immediately kicked them all back -  
"You dropped these."  
"Shoot, sorry - "  
"It's fine, it's fine! ...Good night."

"Name, please?"  
"Elton - Elton Radclyffe," Archie replied, getting out a wallet full of cash, "Here - we're only staying a night anyway." His hand trembled a little as the attendant counted the notes. They were looking down, and he was staring out the window.  
"Ah - yes - here's your key," the attendant confirmed, "You're in room 215 - "  
"Thanks. Give me a wake-up call at 6."

Strange, the attendant thought, he'd never seen anyone carrying their luggage on their _backs._

Must be really excited to go to sleep.

As he watched them go upstairs, the desk in front of them...lit up.  
Red and blue, red and blue - far away, but still very noticeable.

\- - -

Maxie lay on the empty mattress, trying to shield his eyes from the light that came in through the balcony window. Every part of the room was lit up by a neon sign from a PokeMart across the road, which kept changing. Probably a ploy to make people pay attention.

"Is anyone asleep?" Maxie asked the room, sitting up in bed and snatching a notebook from his bag.  
"I'm not," replied Tabitha, muffled by the pillow he was lying on, "What is it?"  
"How are we going to... _get out_ of Hoenn?"

Maxie rifled through a collection of pamphlets he'd collected over the last day - 'Delta Emerald Airlines' - no good - 'Pelipper Flights', - also no good - 'Kyogre Cargo' - well, that one was going to have some trouble with business soon…

"Ahh! Seagallop Ferries!" Maxie announced quietly, "Perfect."  
"Okay. Yeah. Go on."  
"They do single trips from Lilycove City, to One Island, to Vermillion City. They let you take your car on board..." Maxie recited off the page, "...and they take six hours, cost around one thousand PokeDollars per passenger…"  
"Six thousand PokeDollars? That's...a bit much."  
" _Three_ thousand," Maxie corrected.  
"Oop. Sorry."

\- - -  
 _  
The receptionist took another look at the new names in her book.  
Elton Radclyffe?  
...Wasn't he from some movie?_

\- - -

Maxie gave a small nod and tucked the pamphlet back in his jacket pocket.  
"There is the question, though…" Tabitha asked, moving over to Maxie's bed and trying not to step on Courtney on the way, "...we still have to go through security, though, right? It's not any different to taking a plane."

"Yes, yes, I took that into consideration -" Maxie sighed, "I do know, though...that it is quite a bit easier to smuggle something onto a boat than a plane."  
"Ohhh."  
"Yes."  
"Are we...actually doing this?"

"Yes - we are. It'll be more interesting than driving, at least..." Maxie concluded, turning around and flopping onto the bed the exact same way Tabitha did - "Goodnight."  
"G'night."

\- - -

Archie held the Seagallop Ferries pamphlet in his hand, reading over the text again and again, trying to get bored, tired enough to sleep.  
There was no point trying the planes, people had already called the police to their name. And passports existed. Ferries were a lot less regulated, and there was always the open sea - a Sharpedo they could try.

He looked over at his friends, who might've been sleeping, might've been lying awake like he was - would they have approved?  
Would they like the plan?  
Wouldn't it be a lot better for them if he _asked?  
_

This pillow-in-the-face technique was working well, thought Maxie, lying there in the dark now. Some faint bright lights danced at the edge of his sight, but if he tried, actually _tried_ , he could ignore them.  
And then they got brighter.  
And more colourful.

As Maxie shot up in bed like waking up from a bad dream, he looked out the luxurious, all-revealing balcony window - to see a police car pulling up to the hotel. The shadows of the men inside looked...huge. The tiny bell on the door rang -  
Before one of them shut it up with their hand.  
The officer inside turned off the lights, signalled for their partner to keep a watch outside...and stepped in.

"COURTNEY! _Quick - close the curtains!_ "

Thump - he landed down the side of the bed, tucking himself into the space between it and the wall. He watched as his admin struggled upwards, in full view of the window, looking left, right, left again -

"There aren't any curtains!" she announced, looking to him for reassurance.

" _ **WHAT?**_ "  
Then silence, as he slammed a hand over his mouth.

"Hide, then!"  
"Where?"  
Tabitha, staring out the window and frozen in place, found the nerve to slide behind the bed, pulling a duvet over his back.  
"ANYWHERE!"  
"Right!" Courtney whispered, curling into a ball behind a table. She felt the vibration, a slam of a door through the weak, thin floor. Faintly, she trembled.

Seemingly to intimidate them, the siren lights never turned off.

\- - -

"Is there a man staying here, going by the name 'Cam Sanders?'" the policeman asked the slightly shaken attendant, who had his nose buried in the registration book - "We have reason to believe they're actually Archie Smith, and if so - "  
"N...No, Officer, we don't - officer!"

"Ah," they confirmed, returning to their car -  
"Jimmy...what's the name of the other guy?"  
"Who? 'Bartholomew?'"

"No, no... the _nerdy_ ones."

\- - -

"We need to get out of this room - " Maxie concluded, "Tabitha, where's the bathroom here? They won't come into a bathroom! It's unprofessional!"  
" _They'll know to look there, though!_ " Tabitha objected, grabbing Courtney and half their luggage, "We'll have to jump out a window or something!"  
"No - no, it'll work!" Maxie replied, fumbling with the door handle, "It'll buy us time! That's all we need! Time!"

\- - -

Archie woke up again to the sound of footsteps in the lobby below - "Guys - guys, wake up!"  
"What?" Shelly asked, grabbing her bag immediately.  
"The police are here!"  
" _Don't say that so loud!_ "  
"Bro - " Matt interrupted, grabbing Archie's shoulder as he turned to leave - "We're fine. You signed us in with a fake name. They're going to find no-one. Remember?"  
Archie took a few shaky breaths in, trying to recall if he actually _did_ that. Quietly, they all returned to normal, as normal as they could be if someone came in.

"It's okay. You're - "

A chorus of voices crashed out of the other side of the corridor. Archie whipped around, pushing his door open to see...

"Maxie?"

His rival, the person he'd _just_ said goodbye to, was frozen in position. Halfway through the action of pulling a suitcase out of his room, he barely reacted.  
Tabitha gave a quick look to his leader, but there was no response.  
They nervously looked at each other, muttering quietly about why they'd come back -  
Until a sliver of light projected up the hall.

\- - -

"I'd also like to ask you - " the officer began after coming back in - "did a man named Richard L. Grant and his wife check in?"  
"Richard L...Grant?" the attendant confirmed.

\- - -

"Erm…" Maxie began, "I apologise - but - "

\- - -

"Yes. Yes, he did, actually," they continued, "He's in room 214."  
The police officers gave each other a nod and continued upstairs. One even carried a battering ram the size of a large chair.  
"May I ask who he _actually_ is?" the attendant inquired, from below the desk.  
"He's the leader of team Magma, if you must know. Don't panic."  
The attendant, fainted, hit the floor with a little whump.

"Alrighty, then."

\- - -

"Just get in," Archie told him, pulling Maxie into his hotel room by the arm. Courtney followed, pulled in by Matt who practically tossed her across the room.  
One far-off, very loud smash of glass later, and Tabitha ran inside. He slammed the door behind him and locked it with a click, double, triple checking to make sure. Breathing a deep sigh of relief, all three slumped onto the nearest piece of furniture just as the first footsteps started moving down the corridor.

"You - " Maxie began, but everyone in the room gave him the finger on lips.  
"It's fine," Archie whispered.

\- - -

The police entered room 215, to find...a scene straight out of a crime show. The sheets were torn off the beds for some reason, and there was some luggage left under the table. Upon closer inspection, they contained nothing important - just snacks, clothes and a plush Skitty.

Of course, none of _that_ caught their attention first.

\- - -

"Hey...quick question," Shelly muttered, shifting around to face Tabitha, "Why'd you break a window before you dived in here?"

\- - -

"Well, I think we all know what happened here," the first officer concluded, pointing at the huge, shattered pane of glass. Some of the shards, tiny ones were kicked around haphazardly...but the footsteps stopped at the balcony. As he craned over the edge, he could see the road below - obviously no evidence of a fall, but it was asphalt anyway.

Jumping from this height wouldn't kill you, especially if you hung from the balcony before doing it. It was only the second floor. It'd be uncomfortable...but you would still be able to walk afterwards.  
The officer smiled happily. Genius, he thought, genius.  
"Hey, Greg, I worked it out!"  
"What?"

He gracefully leaned off the balcony, pointing down the empty street.  
"...They've jumped out the bloody window!"

\- - -

"That's why," Tabitha concluded, pressing his ear to the door and smiling confidently.  
Quickly, he drew back as the thud of boots crept... _back_ down the hallway. Down the stairs...the little bell that rang when you left, went off with a gentle _ding-ding-ding._

And...that was the sound of a car driving away.

"...I did it!" Tabitha squeaked.

It started quietly, but as the police car's sirens got softer and softer, the cheering got a little louder. Everyone congratulated everyone - well, apart from Tabitha. He was happy just soaking up the attention. Matt gave Archie a reassuring pat on the back, telling him that it was done. They were gone. Police didn't visit a place twice.

Maxie, however, was still trying to get his heart-rate back down.  
"Well, Tabitha," he muttered, "Congratulations on your quick thinking there - if Team Magma still existed, I would give you a medal."  
"You...gave out medals?"  
"Yes, he did," Courtney replied, opening up her jacket to show the rows of laminated paper with ribbons taped on the back.

Everyone retreated to the couches at the back of the hotel room, no longer needing to get out as soon as possible. Maxie, as soon as he sat down, felt a hand on his shoulder -  
"So, uh…" Archie mused, "What do you wanna do now? Stay here?...Go back?"  
"Stay here - obviously, since - since our room's useless now anyways..." Maxie replied, "I can't stand a room with a draft."

Archie thought something over for a second or so - "That was...karma, by the way," he finally replied, scratching the back of his neck and looking away.  
"Actually, I mean more...uh, what kind of _prick_ would leave someone outside a hotel room to get taken by the police?..." he continued, "That's what I meant."  
"Ahh," Maxie concluded, "I see."  
"I would've done it for any…" Archie began, before realising what he was saying and bursting into awkward, stilted laughter, "...never mind, actually."

Matt marched past them both, just as Maxie was moving to get up.  
"Right!" he said, throwing a handful of duvets onto the floor - which was a lot, considering how much he could carry, "Does everyone wanna turn in for the night?"  
"Sure."  
"Alright!"  
"I called dibs on the bed," Archie declared, shuffling onto the small single mattress and curling himself around whatever pillows he could find, "What about everyone else?"  
"I...I'll take a position on the - "  
"DIBS ON THE BED!" Tabitha cried, throwing himself onto the other.  
"...on the floor. Near the door," Maxie finished, making himself a nest.

If he concentrated, he could faintly hear the hotel employees talking about what just happened. Complaining, working out how much this would cost, probably. In fact, he found it almost impossible to ignore them, and even if he did, every now and then someone would walk back up to the room to inspect the damage.  
It took Maxie a while to realise why he was so weirdly nostalgic, before realising this was the exact same feeling he'd get staying up late as a small child.  
How immature, he thought, just go to sleep. _Do_ something to go to sleep.

Quietly, he got out one of the Pokeballs from his bag and pressed the little button on the front. With a small flash of light, his Crobat got out and stretched its wings, and quickly found the edge of the table a good place to hang.  
Maxie took a small mint he'd taken from the hotel's reception desk, and fed it to the bat, waiting until it started eating to explain the plan.

"If you hear _anyone_ come down the hall, you _immediately_ wake me up. Then, you use Swift on them, and you wait until I run. You understand?" He went to switch a nearby lamp off, as everyone else was turning off their phones and lights.  
"Skitters - what do you do…" Maxie questioned, knocking lightly on the rug with his hand, "If you hear thi - "

The bat screeched so loudly it almost cracked the glass table. He then got slapped in the face with a huge wing.

"Y...Yes. Very good."  
Maxie turned over, looking up to see Archie watching the little bat. Strangely, his hand also held a Pokeball, and his thumb was also on the button, but after seeing the little display, he put it safely back in his pocket. Maxie couldn't quite make out the expression on his face, and he turned over to sleep a few seconds later.

"And wake me up at six," Maxie asked his Crobat in a low whisper, "Or when you hear a very loud horn."  
"Don't bother," Archie replied, "I already asked the hotel to do it."

"You're…" Maxie asked, sitting up, "...taking the ferry as well, aren't you?"  
"Yep," Archie replied, "First one tomorrow. ...G'night."

Maxie turned back around, facing the wall, and tried to think of other things.  
Stupid, stupid - would Archie have swum all the way to Kanto, is that what he thought? Did he really think the two wouldn't have to bump into each other again? How am I going to spend a whole day on that boat with hi - (no. Wait. The boat is the size of a small building.)  
How exactly is he going to get on the ship? How am _I_ supposed to get...  
...No, never mind that.  
Tomorrow, Maxie thought, he would leave Hoenn, give Archie another, slightly more poetic goodbye, and finally give Tabitha his 'medal'. That would fix absolutely, posilutely everything, he mused with a small smile.

\- - -

At 4 o'clock in the morning, a single cleaner was sent in to clean up the mess left behind by the wanted criminals that jumped out the window and ran away. The largest pane of glass they'd ever bought, completely ruined.

No, she didn't believe it either.

Completely ignoring the drifts of broken glass, she knelt down to dust some crumbs off the floor under the bed. She got out her dustbin and brush and -  
A sharp pain shot through her knee.  
Inspecting it, she realised she'd knelt on top of a shard of glass - slumping down with a thud, she saw a few more in an impossible place - under the bed. So close to the door, and so close together.

Impossible, unless…  
Someone kicked them down there on their way out. As she gazed around, swearing quietly she saw more and more things that looked off - the bags all collected around the door, the little damp marks around the window and trailing back to the door, invisible unless you touched them...

"Hey, Marty?" she called down the hall, "I think you might wanna take a look at this."

\- - -

At around 5 o'clock in the morning, the silhouette of a massive ferry crossed the horizon off Lilycove City's coast. As it arrived, it blared the horn, shaking the trees and seagrass on the shore. The citizens were used to it, and none of them woke up.

Neither did the Crobat, still asleep under the desk.

The small crowd of people slumped over sofas and beds and the floor slept on, as the sun rose outside. But the room was windowless. The sun didn't come in.

The early birds of Lilycove, the city that sort of slept, wandered the streets as tourists filled them, and families met each other again on the shore. The newcomers and the returning people were confused by the police car stationed on the dock, but none of them were _worried._

After all, as was said a lot nowadays, if you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear.

But, despite all the news reports, and the frequent reassurance that they _didn't_ have anything to fear if they didn't have anything to _hide._..two young adults in a nearby flat decided to stay out of the city's way that day.

"It's a holiday, anyway," the first one said, hanging up his bandana and reclining in his chair, "You reckon we might take a day trip somewhere again? I think we should go for that villa in the Battle Resort again."  
"...I feel like going somewhere hot," the second one suggested, changing out of their turtleneck.  
"You _always_ feel like going somewhere hot...and firey...and dangerous…"  
"Oh, stop it! I'm over that!" One punched the other playfully on the shoulder.  
"You always say that, and then you tried to make s'mores with your Camerupt - "

And then, both of their phones buzzed, with a very signature text-tone.

Fittingly, it was the sound of a warning tone, designed to catch their attention, and catch it fast. It was the one they'd reserved for their bosses - well...previous bosses. Both of them had sworn to delete them off their contacts list, but, of course, neither of them had.

"Uh…"  
"Never mind, then?"  
"You haven't even _read_ the message yet!"

They looked, one in disbelief and one in quiet revere, at who just contacted them at five in the morning.

 _Archie has sent a message._ \- _Maximillian has sent a message._


End file.
